Indicator and advertiser.



C. H. TOWNSEND.

.INDICATOR AND ADVERTISER.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 23. 1907.

91 9,495 DQ Patented Apnz?, 1909.

RLOR

PWW-

WITNESSES: IN VENTOR,

d "l\ \\L\\\\\\\x\\\\\\ BY ATTORNEY.

rus Norm: psu-Rs cc.. wAsmNnmN, ng.l I V 'UNITED stri-iras GHARLES H.TOWNSEND, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA.

INDCATOR AND ADVERTISER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 27', 1909.

Application led December 23, 1907. Serial No. 407,683.

T o all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that 1, CIL-firmas H. Tow SEND, acitizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Berkeley, in the county of Alameda and State ofCalifornia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Indicators andAdvertisers, of Which the following is a speciiication.

This linvention relates to improvement-s on the indicating andadvertising apparatus for which U. S. Letters Patent No. 824,89() wasgranted to me July 3, 1906. ln that patent there was disclosed anapparatus containing a movable indicator provided with numeralssuccessively presented for inspection, and also, moving in conjunctionwith said indicater, an znlvertising belt adapted to successivelydisplay advertisements, changiing each time that the indicator isadvanced.

The obect of the present invention is to simplify the constructimi, andto render the apparatus more certain in its operation.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a front elevation of theapparatus, certain parts being broken away to show thc interior, Fig. 2is an enlarged end view of the upper portion of the apparatus, the endof the casin' beinO' removed' Fic'. 3 is a broken to i 'plan view of theapparatus, certain electrical connections being shown diagrammaticallygFig. 4 is an enlarged broken vertical section through the indicatingband.

Referring to the drawing, l indicates a suitable casing having a door 2,hinged on one side, as shown at rl`he interior of said casing is dividedby vertical partitions Ll, 5, into three chambers 6, 7, and S, of whichthe chamber 7 contains the advertising band 9, the chamber S theindicating band 10, and the chamber 6 the mechanism for advancing saidbands. The advertising band 9 has advertisements 11 marked thereon, andthe indicating band 10 has marked thereon the ordinary numerals 12 from1 upward, according to the capacity of said band. The advertisements areadapted to be displayed through a large window 13 formed in the door,and the numerals are displayed, one only at a time, through a smallwindow 14 formed in said door so as to indicate to the customers Waitingtheir turns the number of the Waiting ticket which has thc next turn.Each of said 'bands is formed near its edges with holes 15, into whichenter spurs 16 formed on drums 17, 1S, both on. the same shaft 19; butthe drum 17 for thc adver* tising band is larger than that for theindieating band, so that the advertising' band travels faster than theindicating band, this being necessary by reason of the fact that thewindow 13 for the :ulvertisingband is considerably larger` than that 14for the indicating band. Both of these bands are endless, theadvertising band traveling in the direction of the arrow around theupper drum 17, and a lower idle drum 20, while, as indicated in Figs. 1,4, the indicating band, after leaving the drum 1.8 passes over an idledrum 21, thon downward to a lower idle drum 22, then over an upper idledrum 23 and thence. to the drum 1S. The idle drums are so arranged thatthe front side of the in dic-ating band is spaced from the drum 18 aconsiderable distance, and in substantially the same plane as theadvertising band, much nearer to the front of the machine than lo saidoperating drum 18. 'Ihis arrangement permits both thc advertising bandand the indicating band to move close to their respective windows in theframe of the machine, so as to be readily visible from the outside,while at the same time permitting both of said bands to be advanced bymeans of drums on the same shaft, although said drums necessarily differgreatly in diameter, the drum for the advertising band being of muchgreater diameter than that fonthe indica-ting band, in order to permit amuch greater length of the advertising band `than of the indicating bandto be moved at each actuation of the operating shaft.

The shaft 19 is intermittently rotated by means of a worm wheel 2li onsaid shaft driven by a worm 25 on the upper end of a flexible shaft 26rotated by an electric motor 27. The shaft 2G consists of an upperportion 2S which passes through a bearing 29, and has secured thereon acollar 30, a middle portion 31, and a lower portion 32 directly drivenby the motor. The middle portion 31 is connected with the terminalportions 2S, 32, by springs 33. Said. shaft is made flexible to allow ofthe engagement of the worm. 25 with, or its disengagement from, theworin wheel 24. Said engagement is effected by the cnergization of anelectro` magnet 34, which then attracts an armature 37, pivotcd at 3Sand carrying a collar 39 which surrounds said flexible shaft. 'lhearmature is normally retracted from the electro-magnet by a spring 40bearing against a pin 41. Then the armature is drawn to theelectro-magnet, the worm 25 is moved 44 by a wire 45 to a binding screw46, then by a wire 47 to a battery 48 of, say, five cellsf then from theother pole of said battery by a wire 49 to a binding screw 50, then fromsaid binding screw by a wire 5l to the electricmotor 27, then from theotherpole of said electric-motor by a wire 52 to the electromagnet 34,then from the other pole of said electro-magnet by a wire 53, to abinding screw 54 on insulating material 55, then by a wire 56 to thebinding screw 57, then by a wire 58 to the starting button 44. Thus itresults that when the operator presses said starting button, saidelectric-motor is started and the shaft 26 revolves, and at the sametime, the electro-magnet 34 is energized, withdrawing the stop 43 fromthe wheel 24, and causes the worin 25 to engage said worm wheel 24 sothat said wheel 24 rotates in the direction of the arrow. lt isnecessary for the operator to press the starting button only a 'shorttime, for, as the wheel 24 rotates, a disk 60, carried by said wheel,soon depresses a spring arm 6l into contact with the upper end of thecontact screw 54 extending through the insulating material 55, and froma screw 63 in contact with said arm 61 a wire 62 leads to the bindingscrew 46. Therefore as soon as the wheel has advanced a short distance,and the operator no longer presses the starting button, the circuitbetween the screws 46, 57 is closed by wire 56, screw 54, arm 61 wire62, instead of by wire 45, button 44, and Wire 58. 7When the wheel hasnearly completed its revolution, a pin 64, carried on the back of saidwheel 24, engages a bent spring arm 65 and raises it so that, for ashort time, it is in contact with a screw 66, and thereby closes thefollowing bell circuit. From said screw 66 by a wire 67 to the bindingscrew 68, then by a Wire 69 to the bell 70, then by a wire 7l to abinding screw 72, then by a wire 73 to the farther pole of the secondcell of the battery, then from said battery by the wire 47 to thebinding screw 46, then by the wire 62 to the contact screw 63, which isin contact with the spring arm 65. The two cells of the battery therebyactuate the bell, which calls attention to the fact that a new number isdisplayed on the indicating band. V'Vhen the wheel 24 has made acomplete revolution the arm 6l drops into a notch 75 in the disk 60, andthe circuit is broken, and the wheel 24 arrested.

In order that the indicating'and advertising' bands may be visible atnight or when the apparatus is placed in a dark corner ol' the room, lprovide an electric lamp 76 :ted by wires 77, and located in a socket inthe partition 5, and the bands are preferably made of translucentmaterial, so that the light from said lamp shines therethrough and welldisplays the numerals and advertisements.

I claim ln an apparatus el" the character described, the combination ofa suitable casing, an advertising band and an indicating band in saidcasing, said casing having windows for the respective bands, throughwhich only portions thereof are displayed, drums for advancing saidbands, the drum for the advertising band being of greater diameter thanthat for the indicating' band, a shaft upon which said drums are bothmounted, a worm wheel on said shaft, an electric motor, a worm on theshaft of the electric motor, and arranged to engage said worm wheel, anelectro-magnet, an armature therefor, operatively connected with saidshaft, whereby, when said magnet is energized and the armatureattracted, the shaft is moved to cause the worm to engage the wormwheel, a source of supply of electricity, and means, controlled from adistant point, for closing a circuit from said source through saidelectro-magnet and electric motor, substan tially as described- Intestimony whereof' l have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

CHARLES H. TOVVNSEND. Yitnesses F. M. VRIGHT, D. B. RICHARDS.

